[Avodah] schechtworthy

[Jacob Farkas]

> Jacob Farkas wrote:
> 
>  > I was curious whether it is fair to apply the standards of yesteryear to
>  > the modern day Shoheit. The role of a Shoheit today has (in most cases)
>  > been drastically reduced, given that he is usually part of a larger
>  > operation that has a league of Kosher overseers who decide matters of
>  > policy, procedure, and more particularly, decide the Kashrus of any
>  > specific animal in question.

R' Zev Sero wrote:

> There has been no change.  Only the shochet himself knows how well he
> checked the smoothness of the chalef, or whether anything went wrong
> during the shechita.  No larger operation can check these things.  It
> relies entirely on his ne'emanut and yirat shamayim.  Just as nobody
> but the sofer himself knows whether a mezuzah or a set of tefilin
> parshiyot was written in order.
> 
> (They do have a chalef-checker, but he doesn't check as often as the
> shochet himself does; even in the old days the shochet had to have the
> rov check his chalef regularly, but the primary responsibility was on
> the shochet himself.)

I agree that nothing changed with Safrus. The amount of time it takes to
check/or write a Mezuzah is the same now as it always was. The person
you trust is the Sofer alone.

I can't disagree more with Shehitah though. The number of chickens that
are slaughtered per minute does not afford the Shoheit the opportunity
to treat each individual Shehitah as thoroughly as in the past. Fewer
tasks and responsibilities are performed by the modern Shoheit, and his
ne'emanus alone does not suffice for the community to eat from his
Shehitah. (He is most often anonymous). Rather it is the reputation of
the certifying agency that is trusted.

I didn't say the Shoheit can be an avaryan, but I did suggest that it is
fair to consider that his role is diminished and perhaps so should his
prerequisites. His job is at stake if he doesn't follow guidelines, and
his actions on the floor are not without other supervision, he is no
longer 100% bein adam lamaqom.

In "di heim," the Rav checking the Halaf of the Shoheit was done quite
infrequently, AFAIK.

--Jacob Farkas